I think this is a great piece and makes some important points about how people are increasingly challenged to find new innovative ways to create situations in which their creativity and the creativity of others can thrive. We definitely need more of a creative dialogue about making creativity and creative work an "essential" part of the economy. AI, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and related things CANNOT replace true human creativity and reason. The problem is that not enough people are being given the chance, opportunity, or guidance which we all need at different times, to fully develop and unleash our creativity.
The idea of a society organized around the purpose of allowing everyone to fully develop their innate natural creative potential, their powers of creative reason, is a win-win situation for everyone i.e. you directly benefit from your neighbor developing his/her own creative potential to the fullest of their ability, and they likewise benefit from you developing your innate creative powers to the fullest extent possible.
This question actually lies at the root of the conceptual development of the nation state, which is what globalization was largely designed to attack. The idea of the nation state arose as the result of a conceptual leap whereby the feudal system of hereditary rule by a few individuals was overturned based on the idea that every individual had an innate creative potential, a capability for creative reason and love, and it was the ruler of a nation or the government of a nation's responsibility to promote the common good in such a way that this innate creative potential could be developed in every individual. That's ACTUALLY where the idea of the nation state comes from, which largely emerged out of what we today call the Renaissance. Before that, nation states had no real existence, there were empires, Europe was essentially a collection of fiefdoms ruled by a hereditary class. In a sense, we can understand much of the history of the last 500 years as essentially an attempt to undo the progress of the Renaissance, the win over the oligarchy that occurred for even just a brief period of time, and whose consequences the oligarchy has still been trying to undo with things like globalization, artificial debates over false binaries like "capitalism" or "communism," artificial cults and ideologies. There was an oligarchy and individuals and groups fighting against the oligarchical system of rule much before there was any notion of capitalism or communism.
It's arguably very helpful to go even further back, and consider something like the Greek story of Prometheus as told by Aeschylus in his famous "Prometheus Bound." The titan Prometheus stole fire from the Gods in order to give it to humankind, such that we might have knowledge of "fire." Zeus and the Olympians wished to keep human beings in darkness, ignorant, living in caves, while Prometheus sought to free them from their servitude, even sacrificing himself, letting himself be chained to a rock with a crow pecking at his liver. However, while Prometheus endured punishment for thousands of years, he knew (Prometheus means "foresight") that Zeus would ultimately meet his demise. Prometheus' actions were based on foresight, and an understanding of the true nature of human beings. The Olympians are those who reject this notion of humanity--the Promethean--and wish to deny humankind knowledge of "fire." The battle has been raging ever since.
Caitlin's writing is a fine example of Promethean "fire."
You rock! I enjoyed reading this as much as her article!! *applause*
I have been saying for some time, one of humanity's biggest societal mistakes, thus far, is in not employing the creativity of young people to help solve the world's problems. If we approached a certain aspect of raising children with a these-are-the-things-we-know-for-certain, and these-are-the-things-we-don't-know-enough-about, we'd not only be tapping into fresh thinking, we'd be raising children to respect us. As it stands now, young adults have to unlearn almost everything they're taught by western parents, if they want to have any sense of higher awareness at all. Religion keeps westerners away from the fire, blissfully ignorant and in fear that "knowledge" is what "god" despises somehow. The "self" is feared by westerners. Self-reflection is scarce. Westerners are required to accept salvation. A far cry from seeking enlightenment. Westerners put a deity (and a series of hierarchical deities) between themselves and Everything. Oneness cannot be experienced with deities inside.
Indeed, we live in a society that largely hampers and destroys creativity, as if by design. Children are not taught to want to experiment, test their thoughts and question where ideas come from, instead we are largely given a series of narratives, predetermined ideas, and school largely just tests us on whether we are able to reproduce these ideas, with little question about whether we know they are true, or how we can know if they are true.
I recently did a podcast entitled “Escaping the Brave New World: Defeating the Culture of Zeus” which talks about this question of what it means to be Promethean, and how that discussion might allow us to transcend all the false binaries of left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal, capitalists vs. socialists, the rich vs. the poor. I think you might enjoy that discussion.
I think this is a great piece and makes some important points about how people are increasingly challenged to find new innovative ways to create situations in which their creativity and the creativity of others can thrive. We definitely need more of a creative dialogue about making creativity and creative work an "essential" part of the economy. AI, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and related things CANNOT replace true human creativity and reason. The problem is that not enough people are being given the chance, opportunity, or guidance which we all need at different times, to fully develop and unleash our creativity.
The idea of a society organized around the purpose of allowing everyone to fully develop their innate natural creative potential, their powers of creative reason, is a win-win situation for everyone i.e. you directly benefit from your neighbor developing his/her own creative potential to the fullest of their ability, and they likewise benefit from you developing your innate creative powers to the fullest extent possible.
This question actually lies at the root of the conceptual development of the nation state, which is what globalization was largely designed to attack. The idea of the nation state arose as the result of a conceptual leap whereby the feudal system of hereditary rule by a few individuals was overturned based on the idea that every individual had an innate creative potential, a capability for creative reason and love, and it was the ruler of a nation or the government of a nation's responsibility to promote the common good in such a way that this innate creative potential could be developed in every individual. That's ACTUALLY where the idea of the nation state comes from, which largely emerged out of what we today call the Renaissance. Before that, nation states had no real existence, there were empires, Europe was essentially a collection of fiefdoms ruled by a hereditary class. In a sense, we can understand much of the history of the last 500 years as essentially an attempt to undo the progress of the Renaissance, the win over the oligarchy that occurred for even just a brief period of time, and whose consequences the oligarchy has still been trying to undo with things like globalization, artificial debates over false binaries like "capitalism" or "communism," artificial cults and ideologies. There was an oligarchy and individuals and groups fighting against the oligarchical system of rule much before there was any notion of capitalism or communism.
It's arguably very helpful to go even further back, and consider something like the Greek story of Prometheus as told by Aeschylus in his famous "Prometheus Bound." The titan Prometheus stole fire from the Gods in order to give it to humankind, such that we might have knowledge of "fire." Zeus and the Olympians wished to keep human beings in darkness, ignorant, living in caves, while Prometheus sought to free them from their servitude, even sacrificing himself, letting himself be chained to a rock with a crow pecking at his liver. However, while Prometheus endured punishment for thousands of years, he knew (Prometheus means "foresight") that Zeus would ultimately meet his demise. Prometheus' actions were based on foresight, and an understanding of the true nature of human beings. The Olympians are those who reject this notion of humanity--the Promethean--and wish to deny humankind knowledge of "fire." The battle has been raging ever since.
Caitlin's writing is a fine example of Promethean "fire."
You rock! I enjoyed reading this as much as her article!! *applause*
I have been saying for some time, one of humanity's biggest societal mistakes, thus far, is in not employing the creativity of young people to help solve the world's problems. If we approached a certain aspect of raising children with a these-are-the-things-we-know-for-certain, and these-are-the-things-we-don't-know-enough-about, we'd not only be tapping into fresh thinking, we'd be raising children to respect us. As it stands now, young adults have to unlearn almost everything they're taught by western parents, if they want to have any sense of higher awareness at all. Religion keeps westerners away from the fire, blissfully ignorant and in fear that "knowledge" is what "god" despises somehow. The "self" is feared by westerners. Self-reflection is scarce. Westerners are required to accept salvation. A far cry from seeking enlightenment. Westerners put a deity (and a series of hierarchical deities) between themselves and Everything. Oneness cannot be experienced with deities inside.
Dear Scott,
Indeed, we live in a society that largely hampers and destroys creativity, as if by design. Children are not taught to want to experiment, test their thoughts and question where ideas come from, instead we are largely given a series of narratives, predetermined ideas, and school largely just tests us on whether we are able to reproduce these ideas, with little question about whether we know they are true, or how we can know if they are true.
I recently did a podcast entitled “Escaping the Brave New World: Defeating the Culture of Zeus” which talks about this question of what it means to be Promethean, and how that discussion might allow us to transcend all the false binaries of left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal, capitalists vs. socialists, the rich vs. the poor. I think you might enjoy that discussion.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy2wXxT1is4
Best,
David